The Book on the Shelf

“Do you want to hear a story? It’s the most wonderful story in the bible—“

“Bible? How do you even know that the bible is the real deal? Isn’t it written by a bunch of humans?”

“Yes, but all scripture is God-breathed and—“

“And you quote that from the bible as well. Which just brings you back to square one. How do you know the bible can be trusted?”

For a lot of people, the bible is just another book. For some, it is a work of fiction. Unfortunately, not all of us have accurate and extensive knowledge on how the bible came to be by which we can convince a person of its authenticity. And simply saying ‘Well, I’m a Christian’ won’t cut it. Of course, it’s not our job to make a person see the authority and the realities presented by the bible, for the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God as it is foolishness to him (1 Corinthians 2:14). We can argue all we want but if the Spirit does not work in the person’s heart, then it’s useless. But that doesn’t mean we should forgo learning about this book that led to millions of changed lives over the years. As believers, I think we should at least know the basics of how the bible came to be because we quote the bible left and right—when we share the gospel, when we want to comfort someone, etc. etc. We know in our hearts that we could trust the bible, but it wouldn’t hurt to know it in our minds as well.

I tried to look for a source saying ‘The Bible for Dummies’, but thankfully, I was led instead to this easy-to-understand account by the Christian History Institute called ‘Discovering the Bible’. It’s a really simple and interesting read, enough for this note’s purpose, and I placed the pdf link at the end in case you want to read further.

We know in our hearts that we could trust the bible, but it wouldn’t hurt to know it in our minds as well.

So, some basics. The bible is actually the most circulated book in the history of the world ever since it was first printed in the 1450s. The word ‘bible’ was said to come from ‘Byblos’, a port in Lebanon which is an important place for shipment of papyrus plant, whose bark was used for making paper back then. It wasn’t called ‘bible’ until the 4th century AD (i.e. Anno Domini, referring to the years after the birth of Jesus Christ). Now to the more interesting parts.

How was the bible written?

In fact, the Old Testament was written over a span of a thousand years. Stories were said to be told repeatedly, in detail, whenever people gathered, and these accounts were written on parchment or animal skin, never to be forgotten. Although none of the original writings were preserved, copies were made, and then copies of these copies were made.

As for the New Testament, you’ll notice that Jesus’ teachings were mostly verbal. His statements which we read on our bible are all from the memory of his apostles and disciples. Can that memory be trusted? Well, if you were someone hanging onto every word of your Lord and Master, you’d probably remember almost everything in detail.

How did we end up with 66 books?

The Old Testament accounts were already available during Jesus’ time, which were what the Pharisees were keen on studying. As for the 27 books of the New Testament, this was decided upon in Carthage in 397 AD by an official church council consisting of different churches in the Roman empire. But it wasn’t simply a putting together of books. They decided on the 27 based on what was already being used by the churches during that time, with most letters being accepted without question, but some being up for debate.

Nevertheless, Bishop Athanasius, a great church father at that time said, “These are the fountains of salvation, that they who thirst may be satisfied…Let no one add to these, neither let him take any from these.” And if you’ve heard of the Apocryphal books, you can read more about it in the source I used.

Now, just like any great book, issues and controversy have surrounded the bible, and still do even now. Here are a few.

Isn't the bible written by humans?

This is probably an issue because we are claiming the bible to be the word of God and yet it is written by humans (who cannot be trusted in general oops). And when you think of it, it would be so easy to miss out important details, or write down the wrong things. However, even without us raising our flags saying ‘all scripture is God-breathed’ (2 Tim 3:16), we can be sure that these humans who wrote these accounts got them from somewhere.

No single human, or even a group of humans, could have come up with such intricate and detailed accounts, without being ‘inspired’. And the fact that different stories written by different humans across centuries could be woven into a single, elaborate story is proof that this isn’t simply a product of the human mind.

No single human, or even a group of humans, could have come up with such intricate and detailed accounts, without being ‘inspired’.

We don’t have the original writings!

How can we be sure that the copies we have now are authentic? That will be answered once we understand the work ethic of the scribes. Scribes during biblical times treated their profession as holy, and were very careful and strict with how they copied the writings. Is this enough to say the scribes did well?

Bible scholars tried to determine this by comparing different copies done across generations, and found, remarkably, that there were few differences such as minor spelling changes. Also, the fact that there are numerous copies of the manuscripts seem to be a disadvantage, but it actually isn’t, because by comparing these manuscripts, you get to see which are the ones closest to the original because they conform with each other. Basta kasjay.

Mistranslations everywhere!

The Old Testament writings were written in Hebrew, and the New Testament in Greek, and since then, it has been translated into over 2000 languages. How can we be sure that these translations are correct? Translating text from one language to another is a very difficult task because you have to consider a lot of things. How did the author want to portray the message? What was their culture and situation when they were writing this? Translations seldom are able to capture the full intent of the original, and the bible is no exception. But then again, this is the word of God we are talking about. If, indeed, mistranslations happened, and the sovereign God has the power to prevent them, why didn’t He? Who knows.

But one thing is for sure. Whatever happens during these translations are all within God’s sovereignty, meaning, nothing that happens, happens without his authorization--even mistranslations. I believe that God would not mislead His people by allowing mere mistranslations to alter the basic biblical truths essential for saving faith. But that doesn’t mean we do not be keen and critical with the versions of the bible we are using, because a single word can alter our understanding of a passage. It would be wise to keep two versions of the bible at hand to aid in our readings (I use the King James Version and New International Version combo).

Nothing that happens, happens without his authorization--even mistranslations.

So many different bible interpretations!

The bible is such a unique book that to some extent, it could be read and understood by children, but to some other extent, even the most intellectual people fight over what a certain verse or chapter means. Jesus Christ himself spoke in parables whenever he addressed the crowd, and only explained some of it to a chosen few. Basically, anyone can read the bible and come up with their own ideas and interpretations of it.

But that’s why we were sent the Holy Spirit. Even though Jesus isn’t physically here to teach us, He is with us through the Holy Spirit. There are limitations to our knowledge, yet God reveals whatever he chooses to reveal. We also know God grants wisdom to those who ask for it. Perhaps not immediately. Perhaps in bits and pieces. But if you are in Christ, and He is in you, God will surely reveal himself to you through Scripture. And in your searching, you’ll know even more, that the bible can be trusted.

So in closing, I believe that the bible we have now is exactly how it is, in order to serve its purpose. And what purpose is that? If we read the whole of 2 Timothy 3:16-17, it says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Some say the bible is a manual for the Christian life, or some sort of map for us to understand our faith. The bible, I believe, directs us to live a life of righteousness, holy and blameless before God, ultimately bringing glory to Him.

There’s really so much more to the bible and bible-reading. And so I hope we find the time and urgency to grab this book off that shelf because that’s not where it belongs.

The bible, after all, is a treasure chest, waiting to be opened.

“How do I know the bible can be trusted? There isn’t a really short answer to that, but I’d like to summarize it into two things-- history and faith. History shows us the human portion of it, of how the bible actually came to be, which is already a miracle in itself. But faith shows us the Divine Hand that is behind all of these movements in history, from beginning to end, leading to the most wonderful story ever written-- one that can save lives. So do you want to hear that story?”

Here's a pdf file of the reference I used. Enjoy!

WHERE THOUGHTS FLOW AND TAKE THE SHAPE OF WORDS